Deadly Good

The magic words that seem to get iPhone faithful instantly drooling are ultra-thin and aerospace aluminum. This new lightweight bumper case appears to have them all.

It's that precise combination of promised features that's helped rocket the AL13 Bumper for iPhone 5 nearly $28,000 past its original funding goal with over 30 days still remaining in this Kickstarter project.

The AL13 Bumper was designed to raise your iPhone from surface contact — then fitted with a rubber lining which acts as a shock absorber. The fact that this design uses a simple sliding lock cover with no need for screws or tools is one of the features driving backers into funding.

Expect to fork over $55 for an anodized finished bumper in black, red or silver and $65 for a Limited Edition Kickstarter green for iPhone 5 and 4. The AL13 is tooled from Aerospace Aluminium and weighs less than 16 grams.

The big question from backers is how the aluminum will affect signal strength — a subject that founder Lester Mapp has attempted to address head-on in his latest update.

“Our most recent tests show that AL13 has a signal loss between 5%-10%
while other metal bumpers we tested have a signal loss 20% or more.” says Lester Mapp.

While it doesn't appear that potential signal loss is causing any concern among backers — it's obvious from Kickstarter comments that most can't wait to wrap the minimalistic AL13 around their new iPhone 5.

With cellular coverage being a big enough challenge for most of us, it's hard to imagine adding another barrier to signal strength no matter how amazing it looks — but that's just me.

Shipping is expected to begin sometime in April since molds are already complete and ready to push product to market as soon as funding closes on February 13th. According to Lester — he's ready to roll.